Improvement in submaeine telegraph gables



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Letters Patent No. 66,613, dated July 9, 1867.

IMPROVEMNT IN SUBMARINB TELEGRAPH CABLES.

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TO `ALL WHOM 1'1 MAY CONCERN:

le it known that we, SIDNEY-E. MORSE and LIVINGSTON MQRSE, of Harrison,in the county of Hudson, Stute of New Jersey, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in .Laying and Raising Submarine Telegrnphic Cables;and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof,

which will enable those skilled in the art to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part ci' thisspecification, in4 which- Figure 1, Sheet 1, represents a portion of asubmarine cable, laid with angles or curves at intervals, according toour invention, the bottom o'f the ocean, on whichit is laid, beingshown, and also a portion of the surface of the water immediately above.

Figure 2, Sheet 2, is an elevation of an apparatus which `both indicatesthe position of thecable and enables us to raise it to the surface atpleasure.

Figure 3 is a peripherical View of one oi' the buoys, which areconnected or incorporated at suitable intervals with the gnidngwirethatextends from the surface or signal spar-buoy down to the cable.

Figure 4 is a longitudinal section thereof.

Figure 5 is a detached View, in red' outline, of a sparkling vane, whichmay be put on the top ot' the signal or` sign-post spar-buoy.

Figure G, Sheet -3, is a detached view of one oi' the clasps whichsurround the cable at certain points, and

`of the hook connected with such clasp.

Figure 7 shows the clasp open.

Figure 8 is a transverse section'of the clasp, its hook being also seenin side view.

Figure 9 is a `top View of the hook and clasp.

Figure 10 is an under side view ofthe hook and clasp.

Figure 11, Sheet 4, represents the lifting-buoys S S, a detachable-sinking apparatus vfor sinking it' being shown iu red. i i i Figure 12shows the lifting-babys S S in the act of descending the guiding-wire.

Figure also shows the lifting-rope Z, after the ring P has engaged thebarbs L L.

Figure GX shows the ring P attached to the lifting-rope.

The' ship in fig. 1, from the ditleulty of drawing it otherwise, srepresented with its side, instead ot' its stern, towards the observer.

Similar letters of reference denote like parts.

Y Submarine telegrnphc cables have hitherto been laid as nearly aspossible in straight lines on the bottom of the Sea, without provisionfor raising them unbrokento the surface at points between their termini.Consequently, whenever it was desiredV to make repairs in a submarinecable, or to inspect it for any purpose, 4it could be donc only bybreaking the cable, and then lifting its parts, or by raising vone ofthe ends and underrunning the cable until the place which requiredexamination had been reached, it 'not being practicable t0 raise a cablewhich has been laid in one continuous straight line at' intermediatepoints, by grappling and lifting it from the bottom ofdcep water,because the cable is incapable of the requisite elongation,and'therefore, unless its strength can endure the strain produced bydragging its ends towards each other, it must part.`

Our invention renders it possible tarnise a submarine cable unbroken atany assigned points on the line, and'it consists in a novel vmethod oflaying theV cable, and also inthe device of an apparatusfor raising itat pleasure.

The {rst part of this invention involves the employment cfa vessel whichwe will call the pilot-vessel, because its usual position will be inadvance of the ship that carries and lays the telegraph cable, and whichwe will call the eable-ship. The pilot-vessel must have-on board asu'lieient number of bueyvs, and a suiiicient length oi' buoy-anchoringrope, both of our peculiar construction. In laying the cable, at anypoint where it may be intended afterwards to raiseit, the pilot-vesselmust stop and lie with its bow pointing at 'right angles to theline-ofthe general 'course of the cable, until the cable-ship comes up,and, laying the telegraphic cable across the stern of the pilot-vessel,shall pass'on,stil1 payingl out the cable, and until time enough shallhave been allowed for the c'able again to touch the bottom, andtheeat'enarian curves on each side between the stern of the pilot-vesseland the bottom of the sea'shall havebeen fully formed. A few inches ofAseele 3 if desired, he lined with a cushion of cloth, leather, or anysuitable material, to protect the cable from injury hy abrasion. 'lheclasp E is connected with wire rope H (whose upper end terminates in aspaiwbu'oy I) by a hoolntl, which underlies the bottom of the clasp, andis fastened thereto by a pin, K, that is inserted through thc middleleaves of the hinge of said clasp after these leaves are themselvesprojected through the bottom of 'thc hook, as is most clearly shown infigs. 6 and 10, sheet 3. The shank of` the hook J is provided with barbsor points, L, projecting downwards and outwards, and the wire rope isconnected to the shank of the hook by aeonical nut, O, iig. 8, to aneye, in whose pointed end the wire 'is fastened, while the broad end ofthe mit is screwed upon the end of said shank. Any other convenient modeof connecting the hook J and wire rope I'I may be adopted, which will`enable the lifting-ring, hereinafter mentioned, to run down from thewire and get below the barbs L. The wire rope His made as light aspossible, so that the spar-buoy, attached to its upper end, need not vbevery bulky. We have made it, in this example, of several strands,

and have incorporated with them, at -proper intervals, hollow glassspheres, M M, iig. 4, sheet 2, ,hermet` rically sealed, the glass beingonly suiiiciently thick to 'resist the pressure of the sea to which theywill be exposed, and containing air suiiicient to make them -as buoyantas possible. The hollow glass spheres are'onclosed within a wooden orother casing, N, to protect them from fracture, the easing being pointedat each ond to allow the liftingring to slide over it with facility. Thestrands of the wire rope embrace the casing lengthwise, lying inlongitudinal grooves, the places of which, as well as the strands, areindicated in figs. 2

and 3. 'Ihe strands can be kept in place in their grooves by means ofbands, which may themselves be sunk in circumferential grooves. ,Theglass spheres and casings are to be as numerous as are necessary to makethe weight of the wire rope of a specic gravity as near to that of wateras is desired, the advantages of this device boing, first, that itenables `ns greatly to reduce the size o f the spar-buoy, and secondly,to use a wirerope of a size and strength barely sufficient to hold thesaid spar-buoy, and to serve as a guide for the lifting-ring when it islowered on it to catch upon the barbs. The lifting-ring P, iig. GX, is astout metallic ring of a size suiiicient to passiover the sparbuoy I andcasings N of the wire-rope buoys, and the ends of the barbs L. It issecured to one end of a strongrope, of a length suiiicient to reach fromthe surface to the bottom of the sea.

When the slack or curved part of the cable is to be raised to thesurface forre'pair or for any other purpose, the ring I? is passed overthe spar-buoy I, and allowed to run down the wire r'ope I-I till it getsbelbw the barbs. On pulling it upwards itjcatches vunder the barbs, andby applying suiiicient power to hoisting the rope attached to it, theslack part ci' the cable to which the clasp E is connected will beraised to the surface. During the operation of hoisting, the vessel fromwhich the lifting-ring was lowered should be moved towards the -lineofthe straight portion ofthe cable, so as to relieve the cable fromunnecessary strain. The guiding-wire is connected with the lower end ofthe spar-buoy by passing it through the small end of a long and taperingconical tube or ferrulc, Q, thc broad end of which passes over andencases the lower end of the buoy. y The small end of this conical tubemay be lined or cushioned on the inside with leather or other suitablematerial, (as seen at R, iigs. 3 and 4,) which is to project beyond theVend, so as to diminish gradually the rigidity and prevent wenn anddamage to the wires or wire rope from sudden jerks by the action of thewaves. The same device may be used at the ends of the casings whichenclse the buoys M. (See iigS. 8 and 4.) The spar-buoy may have asparkling vane or other device on itwhich'willreadily attract the eye,and such device may have inscribed thereon the degrees of latitude andlongitude of its locality. Figure 5 shows such avarie in red. Vesselswhich sail near the lin of the cable may be'furnislied with rings, P,iig. 6X, and lifting-ropes, and with a Morse or othertelegraphicapparatus, so that if occasion arises to send a message toeither end ofthe line the cable may be raised and communication may behad with the offices at the ends of the line by temporarily connectingsuch telegraph 'pparatus with the conducting-wire of the cable. Thecable may be raised also at any time for the purpose of giving a freshimpulse to'the electric current, when from any cause the current fromthe shore ends is weak, using for that purpose a relay instrumentaccording to the method patented by Professor Morse, and often appliedto land telegraphic lines. Fig. 1 represents a vessel that has beenengaged in raising the cable at the angle ofone of its curves, and itshows also a boat, W, from which a grappling-ring, like P, has beenlowered around a guiding-wire for the purpose o frcngaging the barbs,andthereby raising the cable. In raising any of the curved portions of thecable the vessel employed in theoperation should be moved towards theline of the general course ofthe cable, as is shown in the case of theboat W, represented in fig. l. The arrow indicates the direction.

We doinot limit onrselves to making the rope H of wire, as it may bemade of other material than metal, nor do we 'coniine ourselves to theuse of glass buoys of spherical form, as hollow glass vessels of .otherforms may sometimesbe used with advantage.

I Claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

I. lLaying a submarine telegraphic cable at assigned places on the line,overa Boating body, and then after the catenariancurves on. each -sideare fully formed, depositing the part of the cable included in thesecurves on the bottom of the sea at right angles, or at nearly rightangles, with the main line, so that'it maybe raised unbroken to thesurface from deep water, substantially as described. i

2; The formation'of a floating buoy, whose lower, larger, and morebuoyant part shall always be in ldeep and comparatively still water,below the violent action-of the waves, while the upper part, which isitopass through and rise above the waves, shall present a small surface totheir destructive power.

The combination of a sliding-ring, a liftingrope, a guidingwire or rope,andahook with a barbed shank, to lift4 a cable or weight in the water,substantially as described.

4. The combination of a sliding-ring, a buoy or buoys, loaded with aweight thatsinks them, a guidingwire, a hook with a. barbed shank, andan apparatus to detach the weight at the proper time from thc buoy o1buoys, to raise a. cable or other body in the water.

5. We 'also claim the hook J in combination'with the tubular hingedclasp E, substantially as set forth.

6. We also claim the combina-tion of a. rope, H, with hollow'glassvessels fastened and incorporated therein, so as to diminish thespecific gravity of said rope, substantially a-s described. f

7. We also claim protecting the `hollow glass vessels by casings of woodor other suitable material, and J passing the strands ofthe rope overtbe casings in grooves made for the purpose, substantially as described.

8. We also claim connecting a. buoyianohoring 4rope or` a guiding-ropewith its encased buoys and its floating buoy by cushioned ferrules, withprojecting cushions to diminish the liability to wear nt these pointsfrom the action of tbe waives on the oating buoy, substantially asdescribed. i The above specification signed by us the 12th day ofDecember, 1866.

SIDNEY E. MQRSE, G. LIVINGSTON MORSE. `Witnesses:

AMASA A. REDFIELD, J. VAN SANTyooRD.

